Keep your eyes on the prize

In this case, the prize is national office, for which any number of observers say Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is trying to groom himself. That, some say is what's behind his Ahab obsession with forestalling and limiting same sex marriages, which become legal in Massachusetts this month.

(Sidebar: I've been saying May 21. Apparently, I was reading my calendar wrong; the historic date is May 17.)

It's also likely behind his latest caper:

Boston, May 2 (Washington Post) - A group of scientists and legal experts appointed by Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has agreed on guidelines for crafting a death penalty law for Massachusetts, which abolished capital punishment two decades ago and has not executed anyone since 1947.

Outrageously, the committee was not to make any recommendation about if there should be a death penalty but only how one should be administered. That is, the key question of the death penalty itself was never entertained.

When Romney set up the committee, he said the intent was to "correct flaws" in how other states impose capital punishment. What his committee came up with was a plan for the death penalty that would apply to so few crimes and with such a high degree of proof that its imposition would be extremely rare at most. In which case, it needs to be asked, why bother? Supposedly the purpose of capital punishment is as a "deterrent." (Which it's not, but leave that aside.) But if it is an extremely unlikely penalty, what deterrent effect could it have? By definition, the deterrent effect lies in the likelihood of its being imposed, which means that making it more of a "deterrent" means making it more likely, which brings us right back to the terrible risk of executing the innocent which proposals such as the committee's are designed to prevent. So just what the hell is the point?

The point, I suspect, is politics. Support for the death penalty in Massachusetts peaked several years ago and has been declining since. There is probably not much chance this new effort would succeed. Just as in the case of same-sex marriages, Romney is pursuing a case which will look good to conservatives nationwide without risking much at home since his initiative is unlikely to make a damned bit of difference.